Debugging es6 in create-react-app - reactjs

I am trying to debug create-react-app and when I put a breakpoint on an arrow function I have invalid value inside of this keyword and completely strange behavior of stopping breakpoints (the devtools don't allow to put a breakpoint at a valid js expression, it looks like disabled for a breakpoint. I checked on both FF and Chrome browsers. However, when I change arrow function (()=>{}) to the function(){} declaration, the debugging behavior is correct. Does anyone know what the issue is and what react start up project would you recommend where arrow functions are debugged correctly?
My code in App.js looks like here. Try to put a breakpoint inside of the line:
this.setState({value: this.state.value + 1})
this should be App but it's not the case. It is undefined at this particular breakpoint, although the app's behavior is correct. I suspect something is broken with sourcemaps... What are react projects out there with good setup with webpack that handles sourcemaps correctly?

Without using something like let that = this you can use functions for callbacks in JSX properties in a couple of different ways.
If you want to use it directly as an anonymous function you can use like that:
class App extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
value: 0,
};
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={(function () {
this.setState(prevState => ({ value: prevState.value + 1 }));
}).bind(this)}>
Click me
</button>
);
}
}
You are binding the function to this here directly. I haven't seen any example of that. Generally people use something like this:
class App extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
value: 0,
};
this.handleClick = this.handleClick.bind(this);
}
handleClick() {
this.setState(prevState => ({ value: prevState.value + 1 }));
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={this.handleClick}>
Click me
</button>
);
}
}
Here we are using our callback function as a reference and binding it in out constructor.
Another alternative is using an arrow function. For this situation you don't need to bind your function. Also, we are using class-fields here, hence no need to use constructor at all.
class App extends React.Component {
state = { value: 0 };
handleClick = () => {
this.setState(prevState => ({ value: prevState.value + 1 }));
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={this.handleClick}>
Click me
</button>
);
}
}
In a callback for JSX props this' scope changes, it does not refer to the class anymore. So either you will bind it to this or use an arrow function which does not change the scope of this.

Sometimes debug tools can struggle to correctly place breakpoints for lambda functions in these cases. Perhaps you could achieve the same effect by temporarily adding debugger to your source code as follows, to force the breakpoint to hit:
import React, {Component} from 'react';
import logo from './logo.svg';
import './App.css';
class App extends Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
value: 0,
};
}
render() {
return (
<div className="App">
<header className="App-header" onClick={() => {
debugger; // ADD THIS: It will act as a breakpoint and force the developer-tools to break so you can step through the code
this.setState({value: this.state.value + 1})
}}>
<img src={logo} className="App-logo" alt="logo"/>
<h1 className="App-title">Welcome to React, the state is {this.state.value}</h1>
</header>
<p className="App-intro">
To get started, edit <code>src/App.js</code> and save to reload.
</p>
</div>);
}
}
export default App;

Related

Gatsby build getting window error while using onLoad

In my code im trying to get the div height by clientHeight by using onLoad. ComponentDdiMount doesnt give the clientHeight in this case as images load in the div.The code works fine for me.But when i try gatsby build i get the window error as im using onLoad. Is there any workaround for this?
export default class Mainpageanimation extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.topref = React.createRef();
}
load = () =>{
const centerheight = this.topref.current.clientHeight;
//animate div
}
render(){
return (
<div className="topdiv" ><img src={require("image.png") } ref={this.topref} onLoad=
{this.load}/></div>
);
}
}
Try including onLoad property only when the code is running in the browser
export default class Mainpageanimation extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.topref = React.createRef();
}
load = () =>{
const centerheight = this.topref.current.clientHeight;
//animate div
}
render(){
return (
<div
className="topdiv" >
<img src={require("image.png") } ref={this.topref}
{...typeof window !== 'undefined' ? {onLoad: this.load} : {}}
/>
</div>
);
}
}
With gatsby build, rather than gatsby develop, some objects such as window or document are not defined at the point your code is requesting them. The usual errors are fixed by checking if the window is defined in a componentDidMount lifecycle/useEffect hook before triggering your function. From Gatsby's documentation:
Some of your code references “browser globals” like window or
document. If this is your problem you should see an error above like
“window is not defined”. To fix this, find the offending code and
either a) check before calling the code if window is defined so the
code doesn’t run while Gatsby is building (see code sample below) or
b) if the code is in the render function of a React.js component, move
that code into a componentDidMount lifecycle or into a useEffect hook,
which ensures the code doesn’t run unless it’s in the browser.
So, my first approach will be checking if the window is defined:
load = () =>{
let centerHeight;
if (typeof window !== undefined){
centerHeight= this.topref.current.clientHeight;
//animate div
}
}
If this doesn't work, I would try to change your onLoad function and use it in a componentDidMount directly:
export default class Mainpageanimation extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.topref = React.createRef();
}
componentDidMount(){
let centerHeight;
if (typeof window !== undefined){
centerHeight= this.topref.current.clientHeight;
//animate div
}
}
render(){
return (
<div className="topdiv" ><img src={require("image.png") } ref={this.topref} /></div>
);
}
}
Besides the answer, I think you should bind your reference. In a functional component arrow functions does it automatically but in a stateful component like yours, you must do it manually. In your constructor:
this.topref= this.topref.bind(this);
You can check for further information in Refs and the DOM by React documentation.

React event handler works without bind()

I'm working through a react tutorial and the instructor is showing that the event handler in this code won't work, because this() is accessing the outer environment. But I get no error. Can someone explain it to me?
import React, { Component } from "react";
class Counter extends Component {
state = {
count: 0,
};
handleIncrement() {
console.log(this.state);
console.log(this.props);
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<button onClick={this.handleIncrement()}>
Increment
</button>
</div>
);
}
}
export default Counter;
The thing is, when your event handler needs to access this from a local scope, and you call the method like this; this.handleClick(), you are telling JavaScript to implement the task of the method IMMEDIATELY it gets there (in your case, immediately it is rendered), which conventionally, doesn't require binding to this.
But when you 'call' (I put it in quotations because the right word should be REFER) a method like this; this.handleClick, you are actually referring to the method (meaning it should be invoked only when the user does something), not invoking it immediately. This either requires binding this.handleClick= this.handleClick.bind(this); or the use of arrow function for your method handleClick = () => {};. It is mostly used for onClick functionalities.
You are not getting that error in your code because you included the parentheses - this.handleIncrement(). If you remove the parentheses and still consoleLog this.state in your handleIncrement, you will definitely get undefined error. But if your handleIncrement is only logging something outside a state, you will not get the error.
If you understand my basic explanation, kindly accept the answer.
Any function called directly from render method will get the container object as this
But when we assign a function to onClick event, we don't want to call that function immediately... so we assign it like this
<button onClick={this.handleIncrement}>
(only the function name without () at the end) ... and this says to call the function when the button is clicked.
But when you click the button the function will not be called from the render method anymore so the this reference will be changed and produce an error.
In your case, you added the () to your this.handleIncrement function invoking it immediately... so it's not causing any problem but it will give you wrong results in almost all cases since it won't get called on click but it will get called with each render.
Since your simple code gets rendered only on button click it's probably correcting the problem. Add a second button and it will give wrong result or the UI will freeze.
The correct way is to remove the () after this.handleIncreament and bind the function inside constructor ... this.handleIncreament = this.handleIncreament.bind(this)
Without bind() method you can use directly arrow function in handleincrement.
check below code
const { Component } = React;
class Counter extends Component {
state = { count: 0 };
handleIncrement=()=> {
const { count } = this.state;
this.setState({ count: count + 1 });
}
render () {
return <label>
<div>Count {this.state.count}</div>
<button onClick={this.handleIncrement}>Increment</button>
</label>;
}
}
ReactDOM.render(<Counter/>, document.querySelector('main'));
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/16.6.3/umd/react.production.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react-dom/16.6.3/umd/react-dom.production.min.js"></script>
<main/>
I agree with Afzal Hossain.
<button onClick={this.handleIncrement()}>
This line will call handleIncrement function on render. This is not the correct way to add an event.
<button onClick={this.handleIncrement}>
This will be the correct approach to call the function. But since it's a callback, it will have no knowledge of what this is since it's not in the same context.
React Documentation makes it really clear why we should always bind callback functions with this to have the context available in that particular function.
However, if you don't want to bind your function, there are two workarounds mentioned in react documentation
Public Class Fields syntax
import React, { Component } from "react";
class Counter extends Component {
state = {
count: 0,
};
handleIncrement = () => {
console.log(this.state);
console.log(this.props);
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<button onClick={this.handleIncrement}>
Increment
</button>
</div>
);
}
}
export default Counter;
ReactDOM.render(<Counter/>, document.querySelector('main'));
Arrow functions
import React, { Component } from "react";
class Counter extends Component {
state = {
count: 0,
};
handleIncrement() {
console.log(this.state);
console.log(this.props);
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<button onClick={() => this.handleIncrement()}>
Increment
</button>
</div>
);
}
}
export default Counter;
For more details, refer to this documentation link.
As Afzal Hossain says, you're invoking this.handleIncrement() when the element renders rather than when the button is clicked.
You need to provide the function handle itself to onClick, and bind() it to the correct context when it is constructed, so that this always accesses the instance of Counter within handleIncrement().
Here is a working implementation of the suggestions made in his answer:
const { Component } = React;
class Counter extends Component {
state = { count: 0 };
handleIncrement = this.handleIncrement.bind(this);
handleIncrement () {
const { count } = this.state;
this.setState({ count: count + 1 });
}
render () {
return <label>
<div>Count {this.state.count}</div>
<button onClick={this.handleIncrement}>Increment</button>
</label>;
}
}
ReactDOM.render(<Counter/>, document.querySelector('main'));
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/16.6.3/umd/react.production.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react-dom/16.6.3/umd/react-dom.production.min.js"></script>
<main/>

React props is passed, but only render() reads props?

I couldn't find a related situation to mines, however my problem I am having a common error of TypeError: Cannot read property 'props' of undefined.
Weird part is, this error is occurring only for the method I defined above render().
Inside of render() I am able to have access without errors though. React dev tools shows I even have access to props.
Code below:
import { Route } from 'react-router-dom'
import AuthService from '../../utils/authentication/AuthService'
import withAuth from '../../utils/authentication/withAuth'
const Auth = new AuthService()
class HomePage extends Component {
handleLogout() {
Auth.logout()
this.props.history.replace('/login')
}
render() {
console.log(this.props.history)
return (
<div>
<div className="App-header">
<h2>Welcome {this.props.user.userId}</h2>
</div>
<p className="App-intro">
<button type="button" className="form-submit" onClick={this.handleLogout}>Logout</button>
</p>
</div>
)
}
}
export default withAuth(HomePage)
Edit: Apologies. I don't want to cause a confusion either, so I will add that I am also using #babel/plugin-proposal-class-propertiesto avoid this binding.
It's because your method handleLogout has it's own context. In order to pass the this value of the class to your method have to do one of two things:
1) Bind it inside the constructor of the class:
constructor(props) {
super(props)
this.handleLogout = this.handleLogout.bind(this)
}
2) You declare your handleLogout method as an arrow function
handleLogout = () => {
console.log(this.props)
}
this isn't bound in non es6 I believe. So you could either bind it with a constructor, or you may be able to get away with an es6 type function
handleLogout = () => {
Auth.logout()
this.props.history.replace('/login')
}
I can't try this, but you could also do a
constructor(props) {
super(props);
// Don't call this.setState() here!
this.handleLogOut= this.handleLogOut.bind(this);
}
You need to use .bind on your click handler.
<button type="button" className="form-submit" onClick={this.handleLogout.bind(this)}>Logout</button>

someting wrong in react to do list [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
How to access the correct `this` inside a callback
(13 answers)
Closed 2 years ago.
I am writing a simple component in ES6 (with BabelJS), and functions this.setState is not working.
Typical errors include something like
Cannot read property 'setState' of undefined
or
this.setState is not a function
Do you know why? Here is the code:
import React from 'react'
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props)
this.state = {inputContent: 'startValue'}
}
sendContent(e) {
console.log('sending input content '+React.findDOMNode(React.refs.someref).value)
}
changeContent(e) {
this.setState({inputContent: e.target.value})
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<h4>The input form is here:</h4>
Title:
<input type="text" ref="someref" value={this.inputContent}
onChange={this.changeContent} />
<button onClick={this.sendContent}>Submit</button>
</div>
)
}
}
export default SomeClass
this.changeContent needs to be bound to the component instance via this.changeContent.bind(this) before being passed as the onChange prop, otherwise the this variable in the body of the function will not refer to the component instance but to window. See Function::bind.
When using React.createClass instead of ES6 classes, every non-lifecycle method defined on a component is automatically bound to the component instance. See Autobinding.
Be aware that binding a function creates a new function. You can either bind it directly in render, which means a new function will be created every time the component renders, or bind it in your constructor, which will only fire once.
constructor() {
this.changeContent = this.changeContent.bind(this);
}
vs
render() {
return <input onChange={this.changeContent.bind(this)} />;
}
Refs are set on the component instance and not on React.refs: you need to change React.refs.someref to this.refs.someref. You'll also need to bind the sendContent method to the component instance so that this refers to it.
Morhaus is correct, but this can be solved without bind.
You can use an arrow function together with the class properties proposal:
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
changeContent = (e) => {
this.setState({inputContent: e.target.value})
}
render() {
return <input type="text" onChange={this.changeContent} />;
}
}
Because the arrow function is declared in the scope of the constructor, and because arrow functions maintain this from their declaring scope, it all works. The downside here is that these wont be functions on the prototype, they will all be recreated with each component. However, this isn't much of a downside since bind results in the same thing.
This issue is one of the first things most of us experience, when transitioning from the React.createClass() component definition syntax to the ES6 class way of extending React.Component.
It is caused by the this context differences in React.createClass() vs extends React.Component.
Using React.createClass() will automatically bind this context (values) correctly, but that is not the case when using ES6 classes. When doing it the ES6 way (by extending React.Component) the this context is null by default. Properties of the class do not automatically bind to the React class (component) instance.
Approaches to Solve this Issue
I know a total of 4 general approaches.
Bind your functions in the class constructor. Considered by many as a best-practice approach that avoids touching JSX at all and doesn't create a new function on each component re-render.
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.handleClick = this.handleClick.bind(this);
}
handleClick() {
console.log(this); // the React Component instance
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={this.handleClick}></button>
);
}
}
Bind your functions inline. You can still find this approach used here and there in some tutorials / articles / etc, so it's important you're aware of it. It it the same concept like #1, but be aware that binding a function creates a new function per each re-render.
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
handleClick() {
console.log(this); // the React Component instance
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={this.handleClick.bind(this)}></button>
);
}
}
Use a fat arrow function. Until arrow functions, every new function defined its own this value. However, the arrow function does not create its own this context, so this has the original meaning from the React component instance. Therefore, we can:
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
handleClick() {
console.log(this); // the React Component instance
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={ () => this.handleClick() }></button>
);
}
}
or
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
handleClick = () => {
console.log(this); // the React Component instance
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={this.handleClick}></button>
);
}
}
Use utility function library to automatically bind your functions. There are a few utility libraries out there, that automatically does the job for you. Here are some of the popular, just to mention a few:
Autobind Decorator is an NPM package which binds methods of a class to the correct instance of this, even when the methods are detached. The package uses #autobind before methods to bind this to the correct reference to the component's context.
import autobind from 'autobind-decorator';
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
#autobind
handleClick() {
console.log(this); // the React Component instance
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={this.handleClick}></button>
);
}
}
Autobind Decorator is smart enough to let us bind all methods inside a component class at once, just like approach #1.
Class Autobind is another NPM package that is widely used to solve this binding issue. Unlike Autobind Decorator, it does not use of the decorator pattern, but really just uses a function inside your constructor that automatically binds the Component's methods to the correct reference of this.
import autobind from 'class-autobind';
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
constructor() {
autobind(this);
// or if you want to bind only only select functions:
// autobind(this, 'handleClick');
}
handleClick() {
console.log(this); // the React Component instance
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={this.handleClick}></button>
);
}
}
PS: Other very similar library is React Autobind.
Recommendation
If I were you, I would stick with approach #1. However, as soon as you get a ton of binds in your class constructor, I would recommend you to explore one of the helper libraries mentioned in approach #4.
Other
It's not related to the issue you have, but you shouldn't overuse refs.
Your first inclination may be to use refs to "make things happen" in your app. If this is the case, take a moment and think more critically about where state should be owned in the component hierarchy.
For similar purposes, just like the one you need, using a controlled component is the preferred way. I suggest you to consider using your Component state. So, you can simply access the value like this: this.state.inputContent.
Although the previous answers have provided the basic overview of solutions (i.e. binding, arrow functions, decorators that do this for you), I've yet to come across an answer which actually explains why this is necessary—which in my opinion is the root of confusion, and leads to unnecessary steps such as needless rebinding and blindly following what others do.
this is dynamic
To understand this specific situation, a brief introduction to how this works. The key thing here is that this is a runtime binding and depends on the current execution context. Hence why it's commonly referred to as "context"—giving information on the current execution context, and why you need to bind is because you loose "context". But let me illustrate the issue with a snippet:
const foobar = {
bar: function () {
return this.foo;
},
foo: 3,
};
console.log(foobar.bar()); // 3, all is good!
In this example, we get 3, as expected. But take this example:
const barFunc = foobar.bar;
console.log(barFunc()); // Uh oh, undefined!
It may be unexpected to find that it logs undefined—where did the 3 go? The answer lies in "context", or how you execute a function. Compare how we call the functions:
// Example 1
foobar.bar();
// Example 2
const barFunc = foobar.bar;
barFunc();
Notice the difference. In the first example, we are specifying exactly where the bar method1 is located—on the foobar object:
foobar.bar();
^^^^^^
But in the second, we store the method into a new variable, and use that variable to call the method, without explicitly stating where the method actually exists, thus losing context:
barFunc(); // Which object is this function coming from?
And therein lies the problem, when you store a method in a variable, the original information about where that method is located (the context in which the method is being executed), is lost. Without this information, at runtime, there is no way for the JavaScript interpreter to bind the correct this—without specific context, this does not work as expected2.
Relating to React
Here's an example of a React component (shortened for brevity) suffering from the this problem:
handleClick() {
this.setState(({ clicks }) => ({ // setState is async, use callback to access previous state
clicks: clicks + 1, // increase by 1
}));
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={this.handleClick}>{this.state.clicks}</button>
);
}
But why, and how does the previous section relate to this? This is because they suffer from an abstraction of the same problem. If you take a look how React handles event handlers:
// Edited to fit answer, React performs other checks internally
// props is the current React component's props, registrationName is the name of the event handle prop, i.e "onClick"
let listener = props[registrationName];
// Later, listener is called
So, when you do onClick={this.handleClick}, the method this.handleClick is eventually assigned to the variable listener3. But now you see the problem arise—since we've assigned this.handleClick to listener, we no longer specify exactly where handleClick is coming from! From React's point of view, listener is just some function, not attached to any object (or in this case, React component instance). We have lost context and thus the interpreter cannot infer a this value to use inside handleClick.
Why binding works
You might be wondering, if the interpreter decides the this value at runtime, why can I bind the handler so that it does work? This is because you can use Function#bind to guarantee the this value at runtime. This is done by setting an internal this binding property on a function, allowing it to not infer this:
this.handleClick = this.handleClick.bind(this);
When this line is executed, presumably in the constructor, the current this is captured (the React component instance) and set as an internal this binding of a entirely new function, returned from Function#bind. This makes sure that when this is being calculated at runtime, the interpreter will not try to infer anything, but use the provided this value you given it.
Why arrow function properties work
Arrow function class properties currently work through Babel based on the transpilation:
handleClick = () => { /* Can use this just fine here */ }
Becomes:
constructor() {
super();
this.handleClick = () => {}
}
And this works due to the fact arrow functions do not bind their own this, but take the this of their enclosing scope. In this case, the constructor's this, which points to the React component instance—thus giving you the correct this.4
1 I use "method" to refer to a function that is supposed to be bound to an object, and "function" for those not.
2 In the second snippet, undefined is logged instead of 3 because this defaults to the global execution context (window when not in strict mode, or else undefined) when it cannot be determined via specific context. And in the example window.foo does not exist thus yielding undefined.
3 If you go down the rabbit hole of how events in the event queue are executed, invokeGuardedCallback is called on the listener.
4 It's actually a lot more complicated. React internally tries to use Function#apply on listeners for its own use, but this does not work arrow functions as they simply do not bind this. That means, when this inside the arrow function is actually evaluated, the this is resolved up each lexical environment of each execution context of the current code of the module. The execution context which finally resolves to have a this binding is the constructor, which has a this pointing to the current React component instance, allowing it to work.
You can tackle this by three ways
1.Bind the event function in the constructor itself as follows
import React from 'react'
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props)
this.state = {inputContent: 'startValue'}
this.changeContent = this.changeContent.bind(this);
}
sendContent(e) {
console.log('sending input content '+React.findDOMNode(React.refs.someref).value)
}
changeContent(e) {
this.setState({inputContent: e.target.value})
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<h4>The input form is here:</h4>
Title:
<input type="text" ref="someref" value={this.inputContent}
onChange={this.changeContent} />
<button onClick={this.sendContent}>Submit</button>
</div>
)
}
}
export default SomeClass
2.Bind when it is called
import React from 'react'
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props)
this.state = {inputContent: 'startValue'}
}
sendContent(e) {
console.log('sending input content '+React.findDOMNode(React.refs.someref).value)
}
changeContent(e) {
this.setState({inputContent: e.target.value})
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<h4>The input form is here:</h4>
Title:
<input type="text" ref="someref" value={this.inputContent}
onChange={this.changeContent} />
<button onClick={this.sendContent.bind(this)}>Submit</button>
</div>
)
}
}
export default SomeClass
3.By using Arrow functions
import React from 'react'
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props)
this.state = {inputContent: 'startValue'}
}
sendContent(e) {
console.log('sending input content '+React.findDOMNode(React.refs.someref).value)
}
changeContent(e) {
this.setState({inputContent: e.target.value})
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<h4>The input form is here:</h4>
Title:
<input type="text" ref="someref" value={this.inputContent}
onChange={this.changeContent} />
<button onClick={()=>this.sendContent()}>Submit</button>
</div>
)
}
}
export default SomeClass
We need to bind the event function with the component in constructor as follows,
import React from 'react'
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props)
this.state = {inputContent: 'startValue'}
this.changeContent = this.changeContent.bind(this);
}
sendContent(e) {
console.log('sending input content '+React.findDOMNode(React.refs.someref).value)
}
changeContent(e) {
this.setState({inputContent: e.target.value})
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<h4>The input form is here:</h4>
Title:
<input type="text" ref="someref" value={this.inputContent}
onChange={this.changeContent} />
<button onClick={this.sendContent}>Submit</button>
</div>
)
}
}
export default SomeClass
Thanks
My recommendation is use arrow functions as a properties
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
handleClick = () => {
console.log(this); // the React Component instance
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={this.handleClick}></button>
);
}
}
and do not use arrow functions as
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
handleClick(){
console.log(this); // the React Component instance
}
render() {
return (
<button onClick={()=>{this.handleClick}}></button>
);
}
}
because second approach will generate new function every render call in fact this means new pointer new version of props, than if you will later care about performance you are able use React.PureComponent or in React.Component you can override shouldComponentUpdate(nextProps, nextState) and shallow check when props arrived
You can solve this following these steps
Change sendContent function with
sendContent(e) {
console.log('sending input content '+this.refs.someref.value)
}
Change render function with
<input type="text" ref="someref" value={this.state.inputContent}
onChange={(event)=>this.changeContent(event)} />
<button onClick={(event)=>this.sendContent(event)}>Submit</button>
We have to bind our function with this to get instance of the function in class. Like so in example
<button onClick={this.sendContent.bind(this)}>Submit</button>
This way this.state will be valid object.
if anyone will ever reach this answer,
here is a way to bind all of the functions without needing to bind them manually
in the constructor():
for (let member of Object.getOwnPropertyNames(Object.getPrototypeOf(this))) {
this[member] = this[member].bind(this)
}
or create this function in a global.jsx file
export function bindAllFunctions({ bindTo: dis }) {
for (let member of Object.getOwnPropertyNames(Object.getPrototypeOf(dis))) {
dis[member] = dis[member].bind(dis)
}
}
and in your constructor() call it like:
bindAllFunctions({ bindTo: this })
This issue is happening because this.changeContent and onClick={this.sendContent} are not bound to this of the instance of the component .
There is another solution (In addition to use bind() in the constructor() ) to use the arrow functions of ES6 which share the same lexical scope of the surrounding code and maintain this , so you can change your code in render() to be :
render() {
return (
<input type="text"
onChange={ () => this.changeContent() } />
<button onClick={ () => this.sendContent() }>Submit</button>
)
}
Hello if you want to dont care about binding yourself your function call. You can use 'class-autobind' and import it like that
import autobind from 'class-autobind';
class test extends Component {
constructor(props){
super(props);
autobind(this);
}
Dont write autobind before the super call because it will not work
In case you want to keep the bind in constructor syntax, you can use the proposal-bind-operator and transform your code like follow :
constructor() {
this.changeContent = ::this.changeContent;
}
Instead of :
constructor() {
this.changeContent = this.changeContent.bind(this);
}
much simpler, no need of bind(this) or fatArrow.
this problem happen after react15.0 ,which event handler didn't auto bind to the component. so you must bind this to component manually whenever the event handler will be called.
there are several methods to solve the problem. but you need to know which method is best and why? In general, we recommend that binding your functions in the class constructor or use a arrow function.
// method 1: use a arrow function
class ComponentA extends React.Component {
eventHandler = () => {
console.log(this)
}
render() {
return (
<ChildComponent onClick={this.eventHandler} />
);
}
// method 2: Bind your functions in the class constructor.
class ComponentA extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.eventHandler = this.eventHandler.bind(this);
}
render() {
return (
<ChildComponent onClick={this.eventHandler} />
);
}
these two methods will not creates a new function when the component render everytime. so our ChildComponent will not reRender becaue of the new function props change, or may produce the performance problem.
You are using ES6 so functions will not bind to "this" context automatically. You have to manually bind the function to the context.
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.changeContent = this.changeContent.bind(this);
}
Your functions needs binding in order to play with state or props in event handlers
In ES5, bind your event handler functions only in constructor but don't bind directly in render. If you do binding directly in render then it creates a new function every time your component renders and re-renders. So you should always bind it in constructor
this.sendContent = this.sendContent.bind(this)
In ES6, use arrow functions
When you use arrow functions then you no need to do binding and you can also stay away from scope related issues
sendContent = (event) => {
}
Alexandre Kirszenberg is correct, But another important thing to pay attention to , is where you put your binding. I have been stuck with a situation for days(probably because I'm a beginner), but unlike others, I knew about bind(Which I had applied already) so I just couldn't get my head around why I was still having those errors. It turns out that I had the bind in wrong order.
Another is also perhaps the fact that I was calling the function within "this.state", which was not aware of the bind because it happened to be above the bind line,
Below is what I had(By the way this is my first ever posting, But I thought it was very important, as I couldn't find solution any where else):
constructor(props){
super(props);
productArray=//some array
this.state={
// Create an Array which will hold components to be displayed
proListing:productArray.map(product=>{return(<ProRow dele={this.this.popRow()} prodName={product.name} prodPrice={product.price}/>)})
}
this.popRow=this.popRow.bind(this);//This was the Issue, This line //should be kept above "this.state"
Solution:
Without explicitly binding, bind with the method name you can use fat arrow functions syntax ()=>{} that maintains the context of this.
import React from 'react'
class SomeClass extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props)
this.state = {
inputContent: 'startValue'
}
}
sendContent = (e) => {
console.log('sending input content ',this.state.inputContent);
}
changeContent = (e) => {
this.setState({inputContent: e.target.value},()=>{
console.log('STATE:',this.state);
})
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<h4>The input form is here:</h4>
Title:
<input type="text" value={this.state.inputContent}
onChange={this.changeContent} />
<button onClick={this.sendContent}>Submit</button>
</div>
)
}
}
export default SomeClass
Other Solutions:
Bind your functions in the class constructor.
Bind your functions in the JSX Template escaping braces {}
{this.methodName.bind(this)}
bind(this) can fix this issue, and nowadays we can use another 2 ways to achieve this if you don't like using bind .
1) As the traditional way, we can use bind(this) in the constructor, so that when we use the function as JSX callback, the context of this is the class itself.
class App1 extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
// If we comment out the following line,
// we will get run time error said `this` is undefined.
this.changeColor = this.changeColor.bind(this);
}
changeColor(e) {
e.currentTarget.style.backgroundColor = "#00FF00";
console.log(this.props);
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<button onClick={this.changeColor}> button</button>
</div>
);
}
}
2) If we define the function as an attribute/field of the class with arrow function, we don't need to use bind(this) any more.
class App2 extends React.Component {
changeColor = e => {
e.currentTarget.style.backgroundColor = "#00FF00";
console.log(this.props);
};
render() {
return (
<div>
<button onClick={this.changeColor}> button 1</button>
</div>
);
}
}
3) If we use arrow function as JSX callback, we don't need to use bind(this) either. And further more, we can pass in the parameters. Looks good, isn't it? but its drawback is the performance concern, for details please refer ReactJS doco.
class App3 extends React.Component {
changeColor(e, colorHex) {
e.currentTarget.style.backgroundColor = colorHex;
console.log(this.props);
}
render() {
return (
<div>
<button onClick={e => this.changeColor(e, "#ff0000")}> button 1</button>
</div>
);
}
}
And I have created a Codepen to demo these code snippets, hope it helps.

How to access this.setstate in onShouldStartLoadWithRequest() of a WebView in React Native?

I'm really struggling to understand how to read and set this.state inside of functions called by WebView when doing specific operations. My end goal is to:
Show a activity indicator when the user clicks a link inside the webview
Perform certain actions based on the URL the user is clicking on
I'm very new to React, but from what I've learned, I should use () => function to bind this from the main object to be accessible inside the function.
This works on onLoad={(e) => this._loading('onLoad Complete')} and I can update the state when the page loaded the first time.
If I use onShouldStartLoadWithRequest={this._onShouldStartLoadWithRequest} I can see that it works and my console.warn() is shown on screen. this.state is of course not available.
However if I change it to onShouldStartLoadWithRequest={() => this._onShouldStartLoadWithRequest} the function doesn't seem to be executed at all, and neither this.state (commented in the code below) or console.warn() is run.
Any help is appreciated!
import React, { Component} from 'react';
import {Text,View,WebView} from 'react-native';
class Question extends Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.state = {
isLoading: false,
debug: 'Debug header'
};
}
render() {
return (
<View style={{flex:1, marginTop:20}}>
<Text style={{backgroundColor: '#f9f', padding: 5}}>{this.state.debug}</Text>
<WebView
source={{uri: 'http://stackoverflow.com/'}}
renderLoading={this._renderLoading}
startInLoadingState={true}
javaScriptEnabled={true}
onShouldStartLoadWithRequest={this._onShouldStartLoadWithRequest}
onNavigationStateChange = {this._onShouldStartLoadWithRequest}
onLoad={(e) => this._loading('onLoad Complete')}
/>
</View>
);
}
_loading(text) {
this.setState({debug: text});
}
_renderLoading() {
return (
<Text style={{backgroundColor: '#ff0', padding: 5}}>_renderLoading</Text>
)
}
_onShouldStartLoadWithRequest(e) {
// If I call this with this._onShouldStartLoadWithRequest in the WebView props, I get "this.setState is not a function"
// But if I call it with () => this._onShouldStartLoadWithRequest it's not executed at all,
// and console.warn() isn't run
//this.setState({debug: e.url});
console.warn(e.url);
return true;
}
}
module.exports = Question;
To access correct this (class context) inside _onShouldStartLoadWithRequest, you need to bind it with class context, after binding whenever this method will get called this keyword inside it will point to react class.
Like this:
onShouldStartLoadWithRequest={this._onShouldStartLoadWithRequest.bind(this)}
or use arrow function like this:
onShouldStartLoadWithRequest={this._onShouldStartLoadWithRequest}
_onShouldStartLoadWithRequest = (e) => {...}
Or like this:
onShouldStartLoadWithRequest={(e) => this._onShouldStartLoadWithRequest(e)}
Check this answer for more details: Why is JavaScript bind() necessary?

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